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Monday, June 30, 2008

Ind. Law - "Tragic cases often spur fetal homicide laws"

Deanna Martin, writing today for the AP, has a long article on fetal homicide. The article starts by referencing Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi's call for a strengthened law after the recent death of two unborn twins in a bank robbery:

"We've got two innocent babies whose lives were abruptly terminated, five months old, and all we can do is charge this individual with a C felony feticide for each life that was taken because of the way the law's written," Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said after the June 20 arrest of Brian Kendrick. Kendrick also faces other charges in the April 22 shooting that carry longer sentences.

Some legislators agree with Brizzi that the possible prison sentence for killing a fetus is too short and are looking to change the law. It could make Indiana the newest battleground for the debate that has been waged in other states.

Conservative groups say such legislation is needed to protect human life and to recognize that a crime against a pregnant woman has more than one victim. But abortion rights activists say fetal homicide laws are often a backdoor way to determine that life legally begins at conception and can pit a mother's rights against those of her unborn child.

In Indiana, the law allows prosecutors to file murder charges in cases where a fetus dies, but only if the mother is at least seven months pregnant. * * *

"This is not a reproductive rights issue," said Brizzi, the Marion County prosecutor. "This is protecting unborn children at conception."

Here are three earlier ILB entries on fetal homicide. The entry from April 30th cites this Indianapolis Star story by Jon Murray, which details the history behind Indiana's current law:
The bill was drawn up after the shooting of an Indianapolis couple, Melanie and Kevin Elmore, that killed Melanie's baby after more than eight months of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood called it an abortion bill, but it passed both chambers overwhelmingly.

Then-Gov. Frank O'Bannon, a Democrat, vetoed the bill over concerns it put abortion doctors at risk. Both chambers overrode the veto in 1998.

That law marked the line at viability. Its sponsor, Rep. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, now a state senator, said it is time to expand it, in part because advances in medicine have made the legal standard for viability outdated.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has an informative resource on fetal homicide, last updated in April.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 30, 2008 09:12 AM
Posted to Indiana Law